It's A Start
by StaticAnonymity
Summary: First fic, so I decided to do it on my favourite anime. RukiaXIchigo, and some hollows in an attempt not to stray too far off topic. Yeah. There's swearing. 'Cause Ichigo wouldn't be Ichigo without some good ole' fashioned profanity.
1. Default Chapter

A Bleach Fic

Rukia gazed across the classroom at the sleepy looking blonde haired boy. She knew just from looking at him, that he was exhausted, and it was taking all of his energy not to fall asleep right then and there. She couldn't blame him. They had been out until the early morning the night before, looking for a hollow that continued to disappear and reappear on her radar. By the time they had caught up to the creature, it had been at least 3 in the morning, and after finding it, Ichigo was still required to battle it. His eyes slowly eased themselves shut, and his head drooped forward until it met with his desk. He snapped out of his daze immediately, and rubbed the spot where his forehead had connected with the desk. After another moment, he realized he was being examined by Rukia, and turned his head to glare at her, as was the normal facial expression for the teen. Her eyes flickered with amusement at his reaction, and she turned away immediately to focus on the notes being written on the board.

"'The hell wazzat about, baka?" it was after class and Ichigo was standing over his Shinigami 'coach', trying to be as menacing as possible, and doing a very bad job of it.

"I don't know what you are talking about, Ichigo. Please try to keep your incoherent ramblings to yourself." Rukia shot back immediately, her calm, emotionless exterior unwavering, as always.

"You know exactly what I'm talking about. Don't give me that bullshit, Rukia." Ichigo replied, furious as ever. She sure was good at pissing him off… He wasn't sure if it was how calm she always was, or if it was that she knew exactly what buttons to press. Maybe it was the fact that she always seemed to know exactly what was going on inside his head, when he had absolutely no inkling of what was going on in hers. Perhaps it was a combination of all three. In any case, she was damn good at making him angry. And he hated it. Especially when she knew exactly what she was doing. She seemed to be ignoring him now, looking over his shoulder and waving.

"Bye Inoue-san! Tatsuki-san! See you tomorrow!" she called out cheerfully to her classmates in her saccharine sweet schoolgirl voice. The voice that seemed to say "I'm innocent and defenseless, please come save me!"

"Feh." Ichigo muttered under his breath "Innocent my ass…"

"What was that?" Rukia's voice instantly changed back to her usual 'take no prisoners, and definitely take no shit.' voice that matched the real Rukia so well. "Something to say, Ichigo?"

"Don't talk to me like that! Damnit! I'm not a child, Rukia!" Ichigo glared at the petite woman standing next to him.

"Well then stop acting like one. Let's go home already. We can argue on the walk back, if you'd really like."

"Nevermind. Let's go." Ichigo grunted and exhaled, looking up at the sky for a moment. His glare softened as his gaze fell on Rukia. He stood there another minute before trudging along behind her.

'_What was that, today? I can't believe he caught me staring at him... how embarrassing. Why was I staring at him, anyway? He is only a mortal, after all. We are only in this situation because we have to be for right now… soon enough, I'll be gone, and his life and mine can return to normal once again… but why do I feel like that isn't what I really want….?' _ Rukia sighed and stared out the window, without really looking at anything in particular. She was seated at his desk, waiting for him to return with her dinner. He was downstairs eating with his family now, like he didn't have a care in the world. Sometimes just thinking about it, her chest would tighten up with yearning. She wanted to share the bond that Ichigo seemed to have with his family. To be cherished like he cherished his sisters Yuzu and Karin. Or to be remembered and thought of as fondly as his Mother… she found herself wondering what it would be like to eat dinner with them... To be like Ichigo's what…? His girlfriend? She usually laughed at that thought. Silly nonsense is what it was. But today was different. The thought wouldn't leave her head.

"SON! IT IS BAD MANNERS TO DAYDREAM AT THE DINNER TABLE! IF YOU ARE DAYDREAMING, IT IS MORE POLITE TO SHARE WITH THE ENTIRE GROUP! I THOUGHT I RAISED YOU BETTER THAN THAT!" Ichigo's father leapt off his chair, and onto the table, knocking off all the dishes and silverware in the process. He attempted to kick his son in the face, but Ichigo was faster, and grabbed his ankle, and throwing him off the table.

"Asshole…" He muttered and stood up, and walked out of the dining room.

"You're such a fool, Dad. I still can't believe we're related." Ichigo's younger sister Karin, following his example, stood up and headed into the den.

"No Karin! Not you too! I thought you were better than that son of mine!"

"Get a life, Dad." She called back to him, before blasting the volume of the TV.

Isshin sighed, and wiped the blood from his nose with the back of his hand.

"Atleast I still have you, right Yuzu?" he called out happily to his other daughter… to which came no reply. Yuzu had already gone up to her room about twenty minutes ago.

Ichigo was pacing quietly outside the door to his room. He didn't know exactly what it was he was hoping to avoid by not going in there, but there was something. Lately every time he'd seen Rukia his heart had started beating like crazy. He'd been even more temperamental than usual with her, and he knew it had to be a lot more temperamental if even he could notice it. His mind kept racing back to that afternoon in class when he'd caught her staring at him. Part of him was just wondering exactly what she'd been looking at. Was she judging him on how he'd been doing with his fights with hollows lately? No, it didn't seem like that sort of stare… the other part of him was just thrilled she'd be staring at him. God knows she had her pick of almost any boy in the school, and yet it had been him that she was staring at. He shook his head violently, as if trying to shake the thought right out. Why did he care who she was looking at? She would be gone soon enough and he'd never have to worry about her, or her stupid Shinigami duties ever again… But then Ichigo began to really wonder… Is that what he honestly wanted?

"Grubs up." Ichigo called to Rukia, as he opened the door to his room, the tray of food in his free hand.

"Took you long enough." She scoffed at him as she stood up and walked swiftly across the room to retrieve her meal.

"You're welcome." He sneered at her and grabbed his mp3 player from his desk, before plunking down on his bed, slipping his earphones on, and cranking up the music. She watched him for that moment, and as soon as she was sure he couldn't hear her, she sighed. She'd done it again. Been far more snappish with him than she'd meant to be, and now he was pissed. She couldn't even blame him. He was nice enough to bring her three meals per day, and yet she still took it for granted.

"I'm… sorry…" she whispered. So he couldn't hear her. Big deal. It was a start, right?

Rukia finished her meal quickly, so that she could get started on the rest of her homework. She had fallen asleep earlier, and had lost a lot of time because of it. Ichigo may have believed that she was never tired, but after only a 3 or 4 hours of rest, a Shinigami can get pretty sleepy too. Her homework seemed to take such a monumental effort, and it wasn't that hard, either. Her mind kept going back to one thing – _Ichigo._

The moon had just risen, and a sliver of moonlight had made it through Ichigo's blinds, and was resting on Rukia, accentuating her already striking features.

'_Why did I never realize how pretty Rukia is?'_ he thought to himself. Yeah, she was definitely pretty. But there was something about her… she seemed… so old. Well, not 'old' exactly. But it was like she had the weight of the world on her shoulders. And to slack off for even just a moment, could mean the end of life as she knew it. And in that moment he really wanted to see her smile. It was amazing how much a small smile could transform her face. More than anything, he wanted to whisk her away from this life for one day. Help her forget her worries, and just have fun. He wondered if that was even possible for Rukia. Even if it wasn't, he wanted to give her an hour to just relax. To be Rukia. Not a Shinigami. He glanced at his digital clock.

'_Wow, it's later than I realized.'_

"Alright Miss. Shinigami, I'm going to bed, so that means that light's gotta be turned off. You can work in the closet if you like, but don't keep me awake." He said to her, then added a bit more softly "But you should probably just go to sleep… We've both had a long day. 'Night, baka." He rolled over and shut his eyes.

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AN: I'd like to thank Well-Well for her awesome review. It helped me out a lot, and I hope that it improves my writing I took most of your advice, it was that good P Thanks to everyone else that has reviewed my story thus far, as well. It's greatly appreciated and I hope to continue on for awhile.


	2. Chapter 2

-Chapter 2-

Rukia glanced over at the clock, through the tiny crack in the door she'd left a little bit open.

'_2:48 AM...' _ She sighed, and then her gaze fell upon the sleeping figure of Ichigo. Her lips tugged up at the corners. _'Asshole…' _she whispered, to no one in particular. Ichigo rolled over, so he was now facing her, some _extremely attractive_ drool running down his chin. She snorted quietly and closed her eyes, falling asleep much more easily than she would've expected…

"ICHIGO! TIME FOR YOU TO WAKE UP! HAVE A BREAKFAST KICK!" Ichigo's Dad screamed at the top of his lungs, as he came barreling into his son's room, and jumping straight at his bed, foot aimed straight at Ichigo's head.

_3…2…1… we have impact._

Ichigo shot straight up, landing with a thud on his floor, and rubbing his nose.

"DAD! WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT? FOR CHRIST SAKES, I HAVE AN ALARM CLOCK! WHY CAN'T I WAKE UP LIKE A NORMAL KID!"

Isshin laughed.

"Why Ichigo, that's because you AREN'T a normal kid! LET'S FIGHT!" with that, he jumped back off of Ichigo's bed, and tried to land on Ichigo. Ichigo simply got up, shoving him out of the way as he did so.

"Go downstairs and bother Karin or something…" Ichigo mumbled, kicking his father into the hallway and shutting the door in his face. "Idiot." He shook his head, and walked across his room to knock on the closet door. "Rukia? Time to wake up, Miss. Shinigami."

Rukia opened the door before right as he finished his sentence, already dressed in her school attire, her hair neatly brushed, and immaculate as always.

"How the hell did you know it was time to get up?" Ichigo asked, almost in amazement. Rukia laughed

"Your father woke me up. Actually, I wouldn't be surprised if he woke up the next few neighbourhoods, too." She yawned lightly.

"What, not enough sleep?" Ichigo asked casually, though taking note that this was the first time he'd ever seen her yawn.

"Not that it is any of your concern, but I slept fine. I think it's just all those late nights beforehand catching up on me."

"Right, right..." Ichigo nodded, though he didn't really believe her. She pushed him lightly out of the way, and jumped down out of the closet.

"I'll be going to school now. See you there, Ichigo." She gave him a brief wave, before walked over to his desk, opened the window behind it, and climbed out before he even had time to offer her some breakfast.

'"_Actually Ichigo, you're right. I had a terrible sleep. That is, when I did sleep. I spent most of the night staring at you…" Why can't I say that to him? Why am I even being so ridiculous? I have no reason to miss sleep for him… I think… Not that I really know anything anymore. This stupid human body is definitely beginning to take its toll on me. Perhaps I have become mentally unstable? There has to be a reason for these illogical thoughts and behaviours.' _ Rukia walked far more slowly than usual to school, her mind quite far away from the real world. She was so slow in walking, that for once Ichigo managed to catch up to her.

"RUKIA! RUKIA!" He yelled to her as he sprinted to meet up with her. She didn't turn around. Didn't even seem to listen to him. Even when he was right next to her, and catching his breath, she didn't even look over at him. "Hello, earth to Rukia?" he looked at her curiously, and waved a hand in front of her face. She suddenly snapped back to reality.

"OH! Ichigo! I'm sorry, I didn't even notice you. When did you get here?" she looked genuinely surprised to realize he was walking with her.

"About 5 seconds ago, actually… but I called to you from down the street. You ignored me, dumbass." He narrowed his eyes at her, but they sparkled with a sort of childish amusement.

"Gomen, Ichigo. My mind was on other things… I really did not mean to ignore you." She gazed over at him, her voice completely apologetic and sincere. He didn't even know how to reply to that, it was so… _unRukia_-like! Just as they round the corner to the school, Ichigo cleared his voice as if to say something, but was interrupted. "Inoue-san! Tatsuki-san! Ohayo!" Rukia called to the two girls coming towards them, and started running to meet them, she turned around for a moment, and smiled sweetly at him "See you in class, Ichigo!" All Ichigo could muster in reply was a sort of half grunt half yes, and he turned and stalked off in the direction of his friends.

"What the hell do you mean, am I dating Rukia? What the hell kind of question is that, Keigo?" Keigo grinned slyly at Ichigo's fury.

"Just a question any guy would ask a friend who spent a lot of time around a certain girl… especially a certain very _cute_ girl… So is that a yes or a no?" at this question, all the guys leaned in, also quite curious about this. Ichigo turned a lovely shade of fuchsia.

"No, of course not. Why would I want to date her?" He mumbled and glared down at the ground.

"Perhaps because she's charming, beautiful, kind, fun to talk too… cute…" Keigo listed.

"Don't forget that she's smart too!" chimed in Mizuiro.

"I think you guys're seeing things…" Ichigo shook his head. "Why'd you ask, anyway?" Keigo smiled broadly at his question.

"Because, I want to ask her out on a date, of course!" The colour in Ichigo's face completely drained at the words.

"Y-you-you can't do that!" He spluttered.

"Why ever not? She's sooooo cute! And I mean I haven't been on a date in a long time!"

"You mean you haven't been on a date _ever_." Corrected Mizuiro.

"Shut it!" Keigo sobbed, and slugged his friend on the arm.

"You just can't. Her parents are really strict. She's not allowed to date." Ichigo mumbled lamely.

"Oh she isn't, is she? Well we'll see what she says after I turn on the ole' Keigo charm… She'll be putty in my hands. Thanks for the advice Ichigo, I'll ask her at lunch time today!" The bell rang and Keigo grinned at Ichigo and patted him on the back, before starting towards the front door.

'_Oh shit oh shit oh shit shit shit…' _ Ichigo glared down at his desk, paying no attention to the lesson. _'How can I tell Rukia to say no to Keigo without seeming jealous? Is that even possible? I guess I should though… no telling what Keigo would do on a date… I wouldn't put anything past him. Alright, on the walk home, I'll tell her she should say no to him.'_

After School

"Ichigo, what is a 'date'?" They were on their way home from school, and Rukia was dying to know what Keigo had meant when he'd asked her on one. Ichigo kept facing forward, as if trying to decide how to best answer her question.

"Huh?" He tried to sound as nonchalant and uncaring as possible, and did a rather good job.

"Because Keigo asked me to go on one with him on Friday night… I told him I didn't know and he asked that I give him an answer tomorrow." Rukia replied. This time Ichigo stayed silent because he really was trying to find the right words to answer. He scratched his head thoughtfully.

"It's when a guy and a chick go somewhere together.. Like a movie or dinner or something." He said lamely.

"Oh… You mean like when you and I go to fight hollows?" she gazed at him questioningly, and her face was completely serious. "Is that like a date, Ichigo?" Ichigo snorted

"No, baka. A date is when a guy and a girl go out somewhere, and they have feelings past friendship… those feelings are what make the date, I guess you could say." Rukia pondered his answer for a few moments.

"Do you have anybody that you would like to go on a date with, Ichigo?" she asked. Ichigo's heart skipped a beat at her question, but he recovered almost immediately.

"Nope… no girls at the school are interesting enough for me." He finished, rather hastily.

"Really? So you don't even like Inoue-san?" Ichigo gawked at her next question.

"No, she's my friend. Why would I?" Rukia looked up at the sky, trying to remember a comment she'd heard earlier in the day.

"Because… 'She's a total babe, with a huge rack.' That's what I heard one of the boys say today at lunch." She nodded, pleased that she could remember. Ichigo snorted, and the snort turned into a full out laugh. He doubled over, almost unable to breath from all the laughing. Rukia stood next to him, glaring, and not amused. "I don't see what's so funny here, Ichigo." He could tell she was very annoyed. He straightened up and cleared his throat.

"Sorry Rukia. It's just that Inoue-san is my friend, and that's what she'll always be." They started walking again, in silence for a few minutes.

"So what should I say to Keigo? I'd rather like to try one of these 'date' things." She asked him, really wanting to hear his opinion on the matter.

"Feh. I wouldn't… It's Keigo, and there's no telling what he'll do. Besides," Ichigo added, his cheeks flushing faintly "If you really want to go on one, I'll take you. On the weekend. Is that okay?" he finished hastily, and didn't look over at her.

"You know Ichigo… I think I'll take you up on that. But remember… this doesn't change a thing. You're still just a mortal, and I'm still the real Shinigami… Our relationship will extend nowhere past this line." She replied, and exhaled gingerly, before finishing a little more softly "Who knows? It could just be fun…"

"Alright Ichigo, we're almost there. Continue down this street, and hang a left at the temple… Be prepared, this is a pretty large Hollow we're facing this time. No stupid compulsive moves, got it?" Rukia called to him as they ran, just a few steps behind.

"Un." Ichigo nodded, not even taking the time to turn around and reply. She said that every time. '_No stupid compulsive moves.' _ Usually it would annoy him. But not tonight.

'_I can't believe we're going on a date. Me and Rukia. Rukia and me. Who'da thunk it? Why the hell do I care, anyway? I must be going retarded from spending all this time with her…'_ Ichigo said to himself. Though he still felt like he was flying, just as he had when she'd answered him. They rounded the corner, and Ichigo stopped dead in his tracks, causing Rukia to crash straight into him, and fall backwards. "Holy shit…" Ichigo breathed. The hollow was huge. Unlike any of the hollow's he'd fought before.

For a second he was really considering just grabbing Rukia and high-tailing it outta there. But this was a fleeting thought, and as soon as he'd yelled at Rukia to 'get the hell out of the way,' he unsheathed his soul slayer and ran straight at the ugly beast, Braveheart style…


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

"CRACK!" The hollow's fist slammed down onto the pavement, narrowly missing Ichigo. He sprung up immediately to his feet, brandishing his soul slayer fiercely and looking incredibly pissed. He jumped up again, as the hollow unleashed another wave of attacks, slashing and punching at him. He managed to avoid most of them. However, _most_ of them wasn't good enough.

"Shit." Ichigo breathed, and reached his side with his free hand. His fingertips had barely brushed it, but he winced from the immense pain. He cocked his head to the side and saw that his Shinigami robes had been shredded in that area, and the strips of fabric hanging off were already soaked in blood.

He glared at the Hollow and wrapped his now bloodstained hand around the hilt. "YOU'RE GOING DOWN, YA STUPID BASTARD! HIYAAAAAAA!" Ichigo screamed at the monster, and ran at it full tilt, dodging it's swinging arm at the last second and going in for a quick jab at it's head. It worked. He caught the beast off guard, and it staggered under the strength of the blow. Unfortunately, staggering is all it did. The Hollow let out a blood curdling roar and began another barrage of fast, difficult to dodge attacks. "Oh, fuck me." Groaned Ichigo, as he sprang again into action, fending off the strikes with great difficulty.

"ICHIGO! GET OUT OF THE WAY!" Rukia yelled at him, running out from the tree she had been hiding behind. She stood directly in the Hollow's line of fire, shut her eyes, and clasped her hands together, pointer fingers together and pointing upwards. She began chanting under her breath, concentrating all of her energy on one great attack to stop the Hollow.

"Rukiaaa!" She could hear him screaming at her. She could feel the panic in his voice. The Hollow had turned it's focus on her.

'_Good,_' she thought '_even if this isn't enough to stop it, the hollow is distracted and Ichigo will be able to make an attack that counts…' _ She could now here the beast lumbering towards her. She began to chant even harder, furrowing her brow and biting down hard on her lip, hard enough that it started bleeding. The salty taste combined with her… fear? Anticipation? She wasn't sure what it was, but the combination was enough to make her ill. Finally, she could keep the spell bottled up inside her no longer. She knew the hollow was close. She could smell its terrible stench. She opened her eyes and unleashed a blood curdling yell, pouring everything she had into the attack. Rukia knew that it was the only shot she had, and it that if it worked, would knock the hollow out cold before it could even realized what hit it.

A blinding light emitted directly from Rukia's clasped hands, so bright it temporarily blinded Ichigo. Once the spots disappeared from his vision, he saw the hollow split into two pieces and quickly dissolve into the air, leaving only the destruction of the park as testament that it had ever really been there. His vision also cleared in time to see Rukia collapse on the ground in a tiny fragile looking heap.

"RUKIA!" Ichigo bellowed, practically flying to her aid. "Rukia! Rukia please be alright! You have to be alright!" He managed to choke out, while turning her over onto her back, and cradling her head gently in his lap, he carefully moved her hair out of her eyes. "Damnit, you baka…" Ichigo quickly checked for a pulse. The second he felt her heart beat, weaker than normal, but still there, he was immediately relieved. He looked her face over carefully, and, making sure her eyes were still shut tight, he leaned in and placed a soft kiss on her forehead. "I'm sorry that you ended up protecting me… I guess I'll just hafta train harder, won't I? Just like you told me to do in the first place... You always do have to be right." He half chuckled at that before sighing.

He picked her up, as gently as he could, holding her as if she would break with the slightest bump. Ichigo then started towards home, hoping his father had left the backdoor unlocked. He really didn't want to have to move Rukia more than necessary, and climbing through his window, it would be pretty difficult to avoid a bumpy ride…

Sorry for the short length of this chapter.. I've never done action scenes before, and it was really difficult just to go for that long. I hope to start work on chapter 4 too, so for those of you who are enjoying this fic, please stay on the lookout for the next installment! Thanks for reading!


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

The afternoon sunlight streamed through the window in Ichigo's room, unapologetically striking Rukia across the face. She groaned and rolled over, trying to get away from the harsh light. Rukia felt something poke her foot. She groaned again and, with much difficulty, managed to open one eye. It took a moment for her eyes to adjust to the sunlight, so she looked dazedly ahead, trying to focus. Not that it was really hard to tell what, or rather who, had poked her. An unkempt blinding mass of bleach blonde was the first thing her eyes focused on. As Rukia became more alert, she noticed how disheveled Ichigo looked, with his wrinkled clothes, huge rings under his eyes and his spikier than usual 'do.

"Ah good… Finally awake, I see." He said to her gruffly, his face unconciously flooded with relief. "Don't move, don't talk, I'll be right back." He strode out of the room quickly, and she heard him thump down the stairs and into the kitchen at breakneck speed.

'_How long have I been asleep…"_'she silently wondered to herself, as she looked around his room. _'Judging by the sun's position, it has to be after 3 PM… but what day is it?' _ Rukia's thoughts were quickly interrupted whenIchigo burst back into his room, carrying a tray of food and a pitcher of water. She opened her mouth to say something, but he immediately shoved his finger in his face.

"DON'T TALK." Ichigo commanded. Rukia had never heard so much authority in his voice, so she relented and closed her mouth. He placed the tray of food down on his desk, then walked over to her, and gently lifted her back up, supporting her neck, and using his free hand, moving the pillow to an upright position, against his headboard. He carefully lifted her into a sitting position, so that she could lean against the pillow. It never ceased to amaze Ichigo how tiny and frail she was. She put on such a tough front and yet… To see her so vulnerable and defenseless, he would never have believed Rukia could ever be like that, was he not witnessing it. Rukia was genuinely surprised by his gentleness, as this was a side of Ichigo she was almost convinced couldn't exist. It was too… un-Ichigo, she supposed.

Ichigo poured a glass of water for Rukia first, and refused to let her hold it for herself. He tipped it slowly against her lips. Rukia didn't realize how thirsty she was until that cold water spilled down her throat. She drank eagerly, and was annoyed when Ichigo wouldn't allow her to drink it any faster. The first words out of her mouth once he took the glass away from her lips were,

"Jesus Ichigo, you look like shit." Her voice was raspy and brittle sounding, but underneath it still had that intimidating edge. Ichigo suppressed a laugh,

"You're not lookin' so hot yourself, princess." He retorted.

"How long have I been asleep for?" she asked him, "have there been any other hollow attacks? Have—"

"Shut up." Ichigo cut her off. "You're not even close to being better yet. You need to rest." Rukia gave him an indignant look and he sighed.

"But to answer your questions, two days, and no. No more attacks." Rukia closed her eyes. _'Two days? That's two days too long… Onee-san is probably getting anxious now… I haven't reported back for ages and I'm already over the maximum time a Shinigami is allowed to stay in the human world…' _

"Oi. Rukia, what's wrong? Are you alright?" She opened her eyes again, only to be staring into Ichigo's own. He was hovering inches from her face. Rukia's face flushed a light pink colour and her heartbeat quickened. She quickly yanked the covers up over her head.

"I'm fine," she rasped "you're the one who said I needed to rest more, so that's what I'm doing. Go away." She finished briskly.

"Oh yeah… right, sorry Rukia… I'll go then. I'll come back around dinner time with some more food, alright? There's some onigiri here, if you'd like a snack… I'll just put it here, next to the bed." She could hear him fumbling around, as he clumsily put the tray on the floor.

Rukia waited to hear his footsteps leave the room, but they didn't. Instead, Ichigo stood next to the bed for a few moments, to make sure she was asleep, she guessed, then she heard him stride over to the chair he had put at the end of the bed, and sit down. Rukia's face felt like it was on fire. The blush had gotten worse, not better, and the sound of her heart beating like crazy flooded her ears. _'Was he here watching over me for the whole two days I was asleep?'_ Rukia's mind was racing. _'More importantly, Why do I care? I'm probably making a big deal out of this… It IS his room… but why did he give me his bed, and not put me in the closet…?' _ Thoughts reeled through Rukia's head at a speed faster than Ichigo's temper. Yeah, like she was going to be getting any rest.

AN: A present for you! Haha. Wow guys, it's been awhile. If you don't care anymore, I don't blame you 3 I very much apologize! I just sort of got caught up in.. you know, life, and such. The fic just wasn't first and foremost in my mind. I'm really sorry, but it's summer now so hopefully there will be more updates! Please enjoy (the short) chapter 4!


	5. Chapter 4 and a half

Chapter 4.5

Ichigo studied the tiny form huddled under his blanket.

'_What the hell was that…?'_ He mused to himself. Yes, Rukia was more often than not, a total bitch. But usually she had the courtesy to be a total bitch to your face. Rukia was not the type to hide behind anything. _'I'm probably reading too much into this, I mean, she's not back to herself yet… But still…Why did she suddenly duck under the blanket?' _ Ichigo stretched and covered his mouth as he let out a huge yawn. Rukia had been asleep for two days… Come to think of it, he had been awake almost the same amount of time, watching and worrying. Not that he would admit it to her, of course. He didn't _really_ give a shit, he just owed her that much for saving his family, all those months ago… though she had brought him so much grief since then, that she should count the debt repaid, right? Rukia should count herself lucky that he had even lent her his bed! _'…Yeah right.' _ He sighed. _'Like I believe that.'_ Ichigo had to admit it. For some inexplicable reason, he felt compelled to watch over her. To protect her. God help anyone that got between himself and Rukia. Ichigo shut his eyes. _'But why? Why do I care so goddamn much, that it hurts me to see HER hurt?'_ Ichigo drifted off to sleep, thoughts of Rukia combined with conflict of his true feelings for her swirling through his head.

It was three in the morning now, and everyone in the Kurosaki household was asleep. Ichigo was draped across his chair, in a most uncomfortable looking position, snoring loudly, his mouth wide open. The small outline of the figure that was Rukia was curled up on his bed, underneath his blanket, shivering violently.

"So… Cold…" said a thin voice, so quiet, it was hard to tell where it was coming from. "Ichigo," the voice was more audible now, more strong. "Ichigo, I'm… so cold…"

"….Huh, whazzat?" The sleepy teen roused from his slumber, at the sound of his name. Ichigo looked around, disoriented and wondering why he was in his chair and not in bed, when he remembered. He rubbed his eyes and leaned forward. "Rukia…? Was that you? Do you need something?" He then noticed that she was shivering.

"I'm cold, Ichigo… So cold…" Rukia mumbled to him, from underneath the blanket. She did not stir, and he realized that although she was talking to him, Rukia was still asleep. Ichigo glared at her with sleepy eyes.

"Tsch, Baka…" he grumbled, standing up. He lumbered over to the closet, and fumbled around for the light switch. He turned the light on, and as his eyes adjusted, he saw no blankets. In fact, he saw nothing, period. _'Shit… That's right, Yuzu told me that she would be doing all the laundry this week. What am I going to do for Rukia though?'_ He glanced back at her still shuddering frame. _'Well I could…'_ Ichigo grunted, and turned off the closet light, before shuffling over to the bed. _'It's not like I want to, I just don't have any other options. Right?'_ He sucked back a deep breath of air, and very slowly lifted the blanket and climbed into the bed next to her, doing his best not to disturb her, not only because she needed to rest, but because he would prefer Rukia not kick his ass at three in the morning when he was too tired to even try and defend himself. Ichigo wrapped his arms around her, drawing her into a tight embrace, willing his body to transfer heat from himself, into her.

He realized that he was forgetting to breathe, and quickly exhaled. The next breath he took, he was filled with her scent. Ichigo couldn't stop himself; he buried his face in her raven hair. The scent was almost intoxicating. She smelled so good… what exactly she smelled of, he didn't know. Didn't care, either. Ichigo shut his eyes, and realized that she had stopped shivering.

"…Thank you… Ichigo…" Rukia mumbled, asleep.

"Hnnn… whatever." Ichigo mumbled back, gruffly, as he concealed a tiny smile.


	6. Chapter 5

Rukia yawned and stirred. She felt great – she had just had one of the best sleeps in her life. She was so comfortable and rested and – warm? She smiled a little bit and opened her eyes. As they focused, she became aware of a soft warm breath on the back of her neck, and big strong arms wrapped around her protectively. She blinked and tilted her head to the side, catching sight of that familiar bright blonde hair. She froze; a blush began to creep up her neck as she stared in disbelief at what she could see of Ichigo. _'What the hell? Can this actually be possible? Could this really be happening?'_

She exhaled. What could he possibly have been thinking? Perhaps he was thinking even more illogically than usual because of the lack of sleep…? That was it. He had to be delusional. There was absolutely no other answer. Perhaps he had been so tired he had forgotten she was there. She would have to keep it that way. She tried to wriggle out of his grasp but even in sleep, he had her in a steadfast grip. Rukia had two options. To pretend to sleep until Ichigo woke up and let her go without saying anything or waking her up (as he undoubtedly would) or to kick his ass and eliminate any potential awkward feelings by kicking his ass to the point where he'd have to fight back. _'I should kick his ass. He should know his place by now.'_ And yet, it was safe… Being there, in his arms. Safe, even just temporarily, from all the dangers of the outside world. How bizarre that one human boy could make her feel that much.

Rukia slowed her heartbeat down, until it matched his. She _would_ kick his ass. That was for certain. But she would do it later. For now, she would enjoy this unexpected moment of peace. Rukia shut her eyes again and breathed deeply. A part of her didn't want this peace to end. But she quickly blocked that thought. In fact, Rukia tried to block all thoughts. She couldn't allow herself to analyze this. It was all too new – the closeness, the overwhelming feelings. But it was nice. She didn't question this. It just felt right. The way they fit together, the way his arms seemed to be wrapped around her body almost instinctively.

Silence blanketed the room. The only sound that could be heard was their breathing, completely in tandem. And as the rays of early morning sunlight splayed lazily in pools around the room, Kuchiki Rukia dropped her guard for the first time in what was probably a hundred years.

AN: Yeah ummm. So I don't know that anyone is actually reading this anymore, but I did complete it for both my own satisfation and to submit it to another site. I really appreciate the fact that people did read it, that's awesome, thanks for the support & reviews, it meant a lot to me as this was my first (and so far only) fanfic, started.. oh, I dunno, three years ago? Haha. Anyways. Yes. It's done ) I may do another one between the two of them sometime, who knows! I should probably try branching out... maybe.


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